Concorde Asset Management LLC Has $648,000 Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Concorde Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 7.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 227,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,844,000 after buying an additional 56,070 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,581,000 after acquiring an additional 36,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 12,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LPLA. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $435.00 to $420.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.83.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $301.53 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $384.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.44.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.